Jack Whitehall is reportedly under pressure to stand down as presenter of a prize at the National Television Awards later in January following complaints about his performance on Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz Of The Year. His suitability for the appearance was called in question by NTA presenter George Mitchell who told the Daily Mail (who else?) that he wanted to hold a "summit conference" to decide if Whitehall should still be invited.

The furore began when an indignant article in the aforementioned newspaper criticised Channel 4's broadcast. It slammed lewd jokes about The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, President Barack Obama, sprinter Usain Bolt and the singer Susan Boyle. Mitchell said he feared the controversy could "run and run" and offered Whitehall "the chance to withdraw."

However, creator and executive producer of the NTA (i.e, somebody with more power than Mitchell) told The Independent, "Contrary to spurious reports earlier today, I would like to confirm that there has been no crisis summit over Jack Whitehall's invitation to present an award at this year's National Television Awards. We are very much looking forward to welcoming him on January 23 for our live show."

The pre-recorded Channel 4 show was presented by Jimmy Carr and starred Whitehall alongside James Corden and Jonathan Ross. Both Whitehall and Corden appeared to be drinking red wine on the show, and Ofcom confirmed it had received around 80 complaints over the jokes. A Channel 4 spokesman said: "[The show] is being shown as planned [on Friday]. It is being broadcast in a late night slot [11.35pm] and will again be preceded by the appropriate warnings about strong language and humour."